Our trip by train on Sunday 27th June from Christchurch to Exeter saw us arriving into St David's station just after 14.00. Our hotel, The Premier Inn, was located just opposite the railway station so was an ideal location for our few days in Exeter.

We'd decided that we would watch the Formula 1 on the Sunday evening so had a quick trip to M&S to collect a smorgasbord of cold meats, salads and other tasty treats to enjoy later in the hotel room.

We had an hour or so to fill before the TV coverage began, and it started to belt it down with rain, so we hopped on a train and travelled to Newton Abbot and back just to enjoy a trip along the sea wall at Dawlish.

Our arrival back into Exeter St David's was timed to perfection for the start of the F1 coverage.

Monday 28th June 2021

Monday saw us travelling from Exeter St David's to Liskeard in Cornwall to meet up with Heather's brother Jon and his wife Carol. This trip not only gave us another run along the sea wall, but also a crossing of the River Tamar into Cornwall over the famous Royal Albert Bridge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel between 1854 and 1859.

This was also our first proper journey on one of GWR's Class 800 InterCity Express Trains. Whilst they are not quite as good (in my mind anyway) as the 40-year-old High Speed Trains they have replaced, the passenger environment is not too bad and a big improvement on a CrossCountry Class 220/221 Voyager.

Jon and Carol were at Liskeard ready to meet us, although they were nowhere to be seen as we waited at the station entrance. They had been feeling quite smug with themselves as they had arrived early, took a seat in the waiting shelter and awaited the arrival of our train from Exeter. They actually saw it arrive and depart and then also watched another train on their platform do the same and wondered why we did not get off it. The train on their platform was going to Exeter, and was not the one we were on that had come from Exeter on the opposite platform a few minutes eralier. They were happily sat on the wrong platform and hadn't spotted us getting off the earlier arrival at the station and crossing by the overbridge . . . . . . life is always a learning experience, as they say.

We had a nice catch up with Jon and Carol over brunch at the Goldenbank Nursery/Garden Centre before going to see the latest renovations they had undertaken to their farmhouse. It's great to see the progress that they are making and, bit by bit, room by room, they are definitely getting there. It's a lovely part of the world that they live in and a fabulous place to bring up their two kids.

After being dropped off at Liskeard station we walked to the correct platform, boarded a train heading towards Devon, alighted at Newton Abbot and then caught a local service to Paignton. This gave us the opportunity to purchase tickets for travel in a few weeks' time for a trip on the Dartmouth Steam Railway with Jon, Carol and the kids using vouchers that my mum had given us nearly two years previous, but hadn't been able to use due to Covid.

After a walk around Paignton town centre we headed to the beach, grabbed a drink at the Harbour Light pub and then walked along the seafront to Torquay. It was a three-mile walk and took us around an hour to wander stopping here and there to take in the views and the sea air. We arrived, pretty much on-time, for our dinner reservation at Bistro Pierre that overlooks the sea and had a nice meal before catching a train back to Exeter St David's.

Tuesday 29th June 2021

It was a sense of de-ja-vu as we boarded the same train this morning at Exeter St David's, headed along the sea wall, crossed the Royal Albert Bridge but this time passed through Liskeard and continued onto Truro. From Truro station we caught the branch line train that was headed to Falmouth, but got off a couple of stops before the end of the line at Penryn and continued on by foot via the Penryn Museum and then onto Falmouth. We had hoped to have lunch at 'The Upper Deck' a restaurant that we knew of as a friends daughter worked their - sadly, despite promising otherwise on the website they were not open 7-days a week. It turns out that as a result of Covid they were struggling with getting staff and had decided to close on a Monday, traditionally their quietest day.

We eventually found somewhere for a late lunch in Falmouth - the town seemed very busy and a number of establishments were closed due to lack of staff, or because of staff having to isolate having been 'pinged' as a result of Covid. Kona was a Hawaiian inspired beach style bar/restaurant and surprisingly quiet compare to some other places we had seen - it was actually nice not to have loads of people around given the strange times we are living in.

After lunch we wandered to Falmouth Docks railway station to catch the train back to Truro. It was nice to have an hour or so in Truro, the county town of Cornwall, a place that neither of us had been to previously (or certainly can't remember visiting).

Once back in Exeter we made our way to Comptoir Libanaise - a Lebanese chain restaurant - for evening meal before having a final wander around Exeter City Centre

Wednesday 30th June 2021

Today we left Exeter and headed to London, a journey of 2 hours and 15 minutes by train to Paddington station.

So long Devon . . . we will be back in a couple of weeks!

PLEASE SEE THE PHOTOS AREA OF THIS BLOG FOR MORE IMAGES OF OUR TIME IN DEVON/CORNWALL